Will Nigerian President Yar’Adua finally request medical leave?
Will he or won’t he? This week, Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters, Senator Mohammed Abba-Aji, reported that Yar’Adua would hand over power to Vice President Goodluck Jonathan by transmitting a letter of medical vacation to the National Assembly, in compliance with a recent Senate resolution.
He said the President has been inaccessible to top Nigerian officials because he was being kept in the ward meant for the King of Saudi Arabia, with the best of security.
Given that Yar’Adua has been absent from Nigeria for medical treatment for, oh, a couple of months now, such a letter would seem to be overdue. Militias in the Niger Delta have threatened fresh violence over the president’s continued absence. A couple of weeks ago, the army restricted movements of soldiers as the chief of army staff warned against a military coup.
Danbazau dismissed the “unnecessary, unwarranted and inflammatory comments” circulating which suggest that a coup might be needed to pull the country out of a constitutional crisis in Yar’Adua’s absence.
He warned that a military coup would be akin to “dragging us back to the dark days of our nation’s history”.“We are aware of the fact that there is tension in the country. We know it’s not a secret,” Danbazau said.
“Everybody knows that. And we also got intelligence information that some people are trying to infiltrate our ranks.”
The Chief of Defence Staff, Air Marshal Paul Dike, also told reporters that military officials would not seek to overthrow the government.“Meddling in political issues does not complement our constitutional role in any way, shape or form,” Dike said. “I therefore warn all members of the armed forces to steer clear of politics. Ours is a military that is mindful of its past, conscious of its present and hopeful of the future.”
As the military exercises restraint, though, civilian pressure on Yar’Adua has been mounting.
The Northern Governors Forum held an emergency meeting in which it
affirmed that bed-ridden President Umaru Yar’Adua does not need to transmit a written document to the National Assembly for Vice President Goodluck Jonathan to assume the position of “Acting President.”
The NGF chairman who is also the Governor of Niger State, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, who read the communiqué asked Nigerians to give Jonathan, “full and total support pending the return of the President in the interest of the country.”
Another article reports that Abba-Aji’s remarks suggest that
There are strong indications that the camp of ailing President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua may have finally crumbled.
The People’s Democratic Party national chairman reports that the party plans to send a delegation to Saudi Arabia asking Yar’Adua to transmit a letter to the National Assembly.
That would enable Vice President Goodluck Jonathan to act as President in his stead, in compliance with Section 145 of the Constitution.
This has been the demand in public protests in the past three weeks, as well as in agitation by personalities, including former Heads of State, former Presidents, and three former Chief Justices in the Eminent Elders Group (EEG).
Information and Communications Minister, Dora Akunyili, raised the stakes on Wednesday by breaking ranks with cabinet colleagues to demand that Yar’Adua hands over to Jonathan.
Ogbulafor announced the planned trip in Abuja, accompanied by a full complement of the PDP National Working Committee (NWC).